As a Christian, Corey Wallis wants to know how she can care for her neighbors “courageously and confidently.”
Wallis, a student at Fort Worth’s Brite Divinity School, said she has been looking for ways to support immigrants and voice her opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations happening in the Fort Worth-Dallas area.
She wasn’t alone. Wallis was among several students who gathered at the school Jan. 30 to hear a panel of lawyers, religious leaders and faith-based organizations discuss the challenges and responses to immigration enforcement.
“The problem is bigger than just the church, and to confront these problems going forward, we have to work interfaith-wise and also with a lot of secular organizations,” Wallis said.
Wallis was among the 55 attendees at Bass Conference Center for Thursday night’s event titled “The Foreigner Among Us.” Another 50 people tuned into the conversation virtually.
The experiences that immigrant families go through, such as being separated from relatives or fearing to go grocery shopping or take their kids to school, isn’t something new, said Sandy Ovalle, founder of Coyo Strategies. Previous presidential administrations have also had large deportation goals, she added.
But what is new today is the “speed and the size and the cruelty of the tactics,” Ovalle said.
“Our conversation tonight is crucial, because this is a moment when we need inspiration and ideas to be able to respond faithfully to the call to treat the foreigner among us as those who were native born,” she said in opening the event.
Jorge Molina, founder and managing attorney at J. Molina Law Firm, left, speaks during “The Foreigner Among Us” event Jan. 29 at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth. Jorge said what is happening is not a “change in the law” but rather a “massive departure of actually following the law.” (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
What is happening is not a “change in the law” but rather a “massive departure of actually following the law,” said Jorge Molina, an immigration attorney based in Fort Worth.
The state of immigration is a political issue, Molina said. He referenced an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by the Associated Press authorizing federal immigration officers to enter a residence without a judge’s warrant. He also spoke on how detained immigrants have been denied due process, or a chance to defend their rights in a fair court hearing.
At the end of the day, Molina said, attorneys have to go through federal courts with lawsuits — but not everyone with an immigration case can afford an attorney, he added.
“What I’ve been seeing, frankly, and it’s very sad, is that a lot of folks are saying, ‘This is not worth it. This is not my dream. This is a nightmare,’” he said.
Immigrant churches are on the front lines as hubs of resources such as spiritual and legal support, said Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra, an academic dean at Fuller Theological Seminary’s Centro Latino in California.
Left to right: Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, academic dean for Fuller Theological Seminary’s Centro Latino; Jorge Molina, founder and managing attorney at J. Molina Law Firm; Cintia Aguilar, FaithWorks immigration ministry manager; and Sandy Ovalle, founder of Coyo Strategies speak during “The Foreigner Among Us” event Jan. 29 at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth. About 55 attendees joined the conversation at Bass Conference Center with another 50 people tuned in virtually. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
Places of worship with a predominant undocumented population need other churches to “come side by side” with them with financial support, prayer and public resistance, she said.
“We don’t need the non-immigrant churches to rescue us, but we do need the non-immigrant churches to accompany us,” Salvatierra said.
The issue is not political, but theological, said Cintia Aguilar, immigration ministry manager for FaithWorks. The faith-based nonprofit “mobilizes Christians to practice compassion and pursue justice” on immigration and other issues, according to its website.
“Jesus was an immigrant, and we’ve seen immigration. We’ve seen migration present in the Scripture from the beginning,” Aguilar said.
Churches have to be flexible and adaptable to the needs of the immigrant population in their congregations, Aguilar said.
That can look like offering transportation, mental health resources and praying outside of courts, but it’s going to take everyone, she said.
“This is not just one other ministry that we are doing. This is the life that we are living,” Aguilar said. “It is not about us and them. It’s about all of us together.”
To Brite student Linda Sanchez, immigration is both a theological and political issue. While advocating for immigrants’ rights can be scary and feel daunting, Sanchez said, it’s still important to show up.
“One thing that we can do to stand in solidarity with one another is to witness and not look away.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
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